Friday, September 28, 2012

We are back in the States and trying to recover from jet lag, but I wanted to take a few moments and share some of the apps that we discovered while we were in Taiwan. What were we doing discovering apps in Taiwan, you ask? Don't ask. Well, since you did...the plane ride there was incredibly challenging. Bam Bam (15 months) did NOT want to sleep. At all. Ever. For 15.5 hours. He wanted to lie down flat and nurse to sleep and because he couldn't lie down flat, and refused to nurse under the cover (I nursed him in the plane bathroom twice. I felt less clean than I have ever felt except after having a baby!), he was miserable, we were miserable, and everyone on the plane was miserable with us. All the planning, preparing and creating I did was for naught because nothing made him happy. Even the television didn't help much. The plane left at 1:45 in the morning and all my poor little boy wanted was to sleep. It was a really rough experience and I seriously considered never leaving Taiwan just so I wouldn't have to go through that or put my family through that again. But then being in Taiwan also had its challenges, so I decided we had to find a way to get home. So, I started researching and testing apps that would distract Bam Bam from his misery if he couldn't sleep again.

What I was looking for in an app for him was movement, sound effects, and simple tap or drag cause and effect. Here are the best 30 apps I found. The app that kept his attention longest is first, and then they are just grouped catergorically from there. The best part is all these apps are FREE! Some of them I would like to buy the full version, but they are fun in their lite versions, too.

We did have a couple apps on my Kindle Fire, too, but I am too lazy to get that right now. So, these are just the ones on my iPhone. Not sure if they are all available for android, too. The best two that I had for the Kindle were a bubble making and popping one (there are loads of free ones for any device and you should definitely download one of them!) and a paint dropping one where you could splatter the paint. I could not find either of those exact apps for the iPhone.

And in case you are wondering, the plane ride home was better, thank the good Lord! Bam Bam and Boogie both slept some, and Bam Bam did enjoy some apps. The sleeping saved the day and our sanity, though :) It is good to have a supply of apps for waiting situations, too, though, so I am glad that I have them ready to go, just in case I need them another time.

Bam Bam loved the free version of Peekaboo Barn so much that we bought the full version. This is hands down his favorite app. All you have to do is touch the barn door and it opens to reveal an animal. The animal makes a sound and a child's voice says the name of the animal. For free, you can record your own voice saying the names of the animals, which allows you to customize the language for free. Or, for an additional fee, you can buy a language pack (either Asian or European, both of which include several languages from the area). I just discovered this when linking to the app page, so I will definitely have my husband record the animal names in Mandarin for our kids!

This app has 24 animals and 12 vehicles. The images are all cartoons. You touch the picture and a voice says "This is the sound a ______ makes," then you hear a real life sound. The pronunciation of some of the words is strange, but the variety is great. The biggest thing I love about this app is that you have 5 different language options for free! I switch between English and Mandarin. You can also choose to turn off the description and only hear the sound. I wish there was an option to just hear the name of the animal/vehicle in Mandarin, rather than the whole phrase. And I wish there were photos rather than cartoons. Otherwise, a pretty comprehensive free app.

This is the free version and it has cartoons of 12 animals and 12 vehicles. You touch the one you want to hear and it takes you to a full screen photo and a clip of a real sound effect. I love that it uses real photos, which is my complaint about I Hear Ewe.

The
idea for this is great, but I feel like it could use some work. There
is a large egg on the screen. You tap the egg and cracks appear. After
several taps, there is a boing sound and something is revealed. I feel
like this could be a lot more educational if it was all real creatures
that actually come from eggs, if there were photographs instead of
drawings, and a voice said what the animal was. For what it is, though, it is cute.

I downloaded three of the Talking Tom series because they were suggested on every site that had reviews for apps for kids. The highlight of these apps is that you talk to the animals and they repeat what you say in a funny voice. The downside, which I think you can turn off in some of the apps, is that there is a violence aspect where when you poke the animal, instead of giggling like it tickles, the animal acts like you just smacked it.

I think they meant "vroom vroom." In this app, when you move your finger around the screen, the squiggles turn into roads and cars drive around on them. Eventually the roads fade so you have room to make new ones. The cars make sound effects and sometimes honk. This is by the same maker as Colorful Balloons, and like that app, the ad on the bottom is annoying, but watching the cars drive and the roads appear is entertaining and engaging.

On the bottom of the screen is 8 colored keys, and the top is a farm scene with 8 animals. You can choose to have the keys play the animal sounds, play music, say the colors, or say numbers. There are 4 other animal themes beside the farm that you can purchase.

In this digital drum app, there are 8 colored circles (drums) on the screen that you can tap. There is also an option to have music play that you can drum with or have drums play that you can drum with. I think the free play is the best for a baby who just enjoys tapping the screen.

If you like the Fisher Price Singamajigs, you will like this app. You can scroll through several different creatures, tap their tummies and they will sing notes. There isn't the option like there is on the real thing to change between words, sounds, and notes, but watching the mouth move and hearing the notes is still entertaining.

I really like this app. A very realistic
looking pond with koi that swim around and get scared if you poke your
finger and make ripples. For a 15 month old, the original version is
perfect. There is a 2nd version with more interaction but it is a lot
more involved and not as baby friendly.

For a baby, a parent has to set up the aquarium by adding fish and plants and what not, but then your child can watch them swim around. You can also tap on the glass or shake the aquarium to make the fish move, which your baby will like. The bubble sound effect can be controlled or turned off, and the glass tapping sound will amuse your child. I recommend turning off the dirtiness factor in the setup menu unless you want to have to fake clean the fake tank so your baby can see the fake fish.

Not
very water-esque, really, but since it is called "ripple", I put it
with the other water apps. I
wanted this app to be more than it was, but it did engage Bam Bam and
it is simple, colorful, and fun, so I should stop nitpicking. The
background is a colorful spiral. When you tap the screen, a "ripple" (a
colored circle in this case) appears, expands, and disappears. You can
tap repeatedly or drag your finger around. Each ripple is a different
color. I wanted there to be a musical interaction each time you tapped
but you can have music playing in the background.

As
you move your finger around the screen, you make water appear. It moves
or settles depending on your movement. Pretty realistic and there are a
lot of options if you want to change them but since it is just for Bam
Bam to tap on the screen, I left the settings alone.

Similar
to Liquid Mantra Lite but the graphic isn't as realistic. The liquid
moves more with the phone motion and there is a sloshing sound effect,
along with 4 different liquid colors and backgrounds. Not sure which one I like better, which is why I kept both. If your child likes the sound effect, this is the best water app for you, since the others don't have sound.

This
is a cool idea. The app uses your phone's front or back camera and acts
like a mirror, but when you touch the screen it distorts it as if it is
a reflection in water. You can make ripples and waves. No colors or
sounds, but it is a fun way to use your baby's love for mirrors.

Another
liquid simulator app. This one has a TON of options for changing how
the liquid looks. I like the way the water looks and moves and settles,
even though I feel that Liquid Mantra Lite is definitely the most
realistic as far as how it looks both when settled and moving. But as
far as the way the water moves, this one is probably the best.

This
is like fruit ninja, in zen mode, with circle and square drops of
water. The maker also made Pocket Pond, so the graphics are great, and there are some sound effects. There are 4 different
backgrounds that you can have your water drops floating around on. The
drops don't interact with phone movement, only finger movement. You can
combine and then slash the droplets to make more, and watch them
reconnect, or you can add more by opening the menu.

This is a tough app to describe but it is
really cool. When you touch the screen, it acts like a heat sensor and
the colors change depending on how long you touch one spot. There are 9
different color/style settings, including heat, glow, metal, and flame,
just to name a few. You can tap or drag your finger to create images and
there is a setting to change how long they stay on the screen before
fading. There is zen music playing in the background that you can use or
silence. This one is great for babies.

I looked at a bunch of fireworks
apps, and liked this one best. When you touch the screen, a firework
appears and explodes. If you stop it will start setting off its own
show, which causes a baby to start touching the screen again and set off
their own.

This is a kaleidoscope app that you can set to auto or manually control the changing of the image, either with your finger or by tilting the phone. There are 15 images in the free version and 4 different shape combinations you can choose between. It is as close to a real kaleidoscope as you can get without carrying one with you.

There are
several different free versions of this app. I am sure you have seen
this in real life. It is a stand with balls on strings that keep tapping
one another. That is not a great explanation, but that is the best I
can do under the influence of extreme jet lag. Mesmerizing and relaxing for adults and interesting for kids.

In this app, each time you tap on the screen, a balloon appears. They float around the screen on their own.
If you continually tap on the same balloon it gets bigger, and
eventually pops or flies around the screen making a sound like you let
it go part way through blowing it up. The ad on the bottom is annoying if your child likes to tap all over the screen, but otherwise a cute app.

This
is digital bubble wrap popping. Such a clever idea. You can choose 3
different sizes, and I find that the biggest is best for clumsy little
fingers. It looks and sounds like bubble wrap, and what kid doesn't love
that?!

The free version of this app is such an annoying tease, but the idea is fun, so I am including it in case you want to buy the full version. In the free version, you touch the screen and several tiny grayish balls appear and fall to the bottom of the screen. The more you touch the screen, the more balls appear. They react to bumping into each other, touch, or phone movement. The sound effects are bouncy and fun and it is pretty much like having a bunch of ping pong balls in your phone. But the free version keeps the info screen as the background and taunts you with the information about the paid version (you can change background, ball color, ball weight, gravity, sound, and the bounce). Next time we are going somewhere, I might get the paid version because I think being able to change those things would make this a really awesome distraction.

I was looking for some kind of
"splat" app, where if Bam Bam touched the screen, something would make a
splat sound and image on the screen. That is how I stumbled across this
app, which is pretty funny. There are 15 cartoon "weapons" you can use
to throw at a picture from your photo library. The "weapons" that I
choose for Bam Bam include pies, tomatoes, eggs and water balloons.
There are a few different sound effects and the splattering is different
depending on the "weapon."

Another
one I stumbled across looking for something else. My little bruiser
really liked this one. You can choose between a picture on your phone,
glass blocks, light bulbs, or fluorescent lights and you tap them to
break them. He laughed out loud the first time one shattered. I am in
trouble!

A very simple
app that held
Bam Bam's attention when he was tired. The app has several backgrounds
with some combination of big black, white and red pattern. Then, in
front, there are 3 more colorful objects that move and bump against one
another making sounds. They move on their own as well as according to
touching the screen or moving the phone. I think there are 4 screens
that it rotates through.

There are a bunch of free Fisher Price apps that have minimal interaction needed. The typical Fisher Price voice and song and dance kind of does its own thing, which is adorable and educational. Bam Bam isn't really into just sitting and watching, though, so he wasn't a big fan. He wants to poke and have something happen, and the ones we played were on auto mode. But if you have a child who likes to watch and you need them to be quiet, these are great.

Do you have any apps for babies or young toddlers that you would add to this list? Feel free to comment below!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

I feel like I am grumbling, either out loud or in my heart, a lot lately. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to go to Taiwan, but I am frazzled and the everyday things are getting away from me. I am blogging pretty regularly again partly as an escape from all the responsibilities of being a full-time SAHM (mom, wife, housekeeper, accountant, secretary, cook...etc) that are feeling like more of a burden than a blessing right now. I don't want to just get by. I want to enjoy each blessed moment of each blessed day. To try and do this, to look back on the day and remember the treasures rather than the trials, I am taking a few moments at the end of each day and writing at least one good/funny thing that I want to remember about each of my fellas. It is a daily gratitude list. And it helps.

Monday

Hubby-Man remembered, even after a long day of work, even after we had already run 3 errands and were on our way to the fourth, that I hadn't had dinner yet, and offered to drive-thru at McDs so I could get something. He also suggested that I could blog more easily with some kind of dictation software, which he would look into. I don't know that I would use it, or should use it since my problem is that it is sometimes TOO easy to drop everything and blog, but the fact that he wants to support me in my creative outlets means a lot.

Boogie learned "May I please be excused?" last week. He remembered to say it when we were at my grandma's house. She exclaimed, "Holy moly, what a gentleman!"

Bam Bam blows whenever we walk past the fan in the hall between the boy's room. I love all the new ways he finds to make sense of the world.

Tuesday
Bam Bam wore his new shoes to walk to the tot lot in our development. His first walk! He walked inbetween Boogie and I. He sat on Boogie's lap to go down the slide, too.

Boogie was so excited to hold Bam Bam's hand for our walk. He did not
want to hold my hand at all, he wanted to help his brother.

Hubby-Man worked late, but picked up food so I could leave as soon as he walked in the door for my girl's night out with my sister-in-law and 2 girlfriends. Yes, I get a girl's night out, often once a week. Even if the house is a mess (which it is) and there are dishes in the sink (which there are) and the boys aren't bathed (which they aren't). Also, he played catch with Boogie in our room while I nursed Bam Bam in theirs and Boogie loved the quality time.

Wednesday

Hubby-Man took out the garbage before work.

Boogie took the bag of mini muffins out of the fridge and asked my mom (Gudge) and I "Would you like one?" so sweetly. He gave one to Bam Bam before himself. He talked about playing catch with his dada all day today!

Bam Bam and I were in the car driving my grandma (Gum) home and he realized Boogie wasn't in the car. He said the word that we have been assuming is how he says Boogie's name. I asked, "Are you saying [Boogie]?" And he goes, "Yeah!"

Thursday

Boogie was trying to do "I love you" in sign language when I walked into his room this morning. Precious. He also was having a great time at the train table. "Gordon! I need help with these freight cars! Them are too heavy please!"

I asked Bam Bam where Boogie was and he pointed. He also will fold his hands when you tell him to fold his hand and pray and he tries to say Amen.

Hubby-Man got home from work early so I could run an errand. We had our fantasy football draft and he was really excited to get Peyton Manning.

Friday

Boogie says cute things all day long. "I think my birthday is coming up, Mama. And I will blow out the candle and sing happy birthday to Boogie." He is also full of mischief and used a double negative on his dada today. Hubby Man told him to say "I will not push my brother" several times and every time Boogie say "I will not not push my brother." Stinker!! We have been doing popcorn prayers throughout the day, and he loves asking me to pray for the cars when we drive.

Bam Bam loves popcorn prayers, too. He goes "eh eh eh!" whenever we finish and folds his hands to do it again. He also pretends his hands, his food, and everything is a car and goes "vrrrrrmmmmm" on everything, including me.

Hubby Man got home from work early again today so I could run more errands. We had fun looking at his new tablet and looking over my purchases from the new craft store.

Saturday

The boys woke up late. We had lunch about an hour after a light breakfast. Boogie goes, "We not eat lunch. We almost eat breakfast!"

Bam Bam points to his toes when you ask where they are.

Hubby Man bought his own clothes for Taiwan during the boy's nap, which was really helpful! We watched our college football team win today, too.I made an epic fail meal and he didn't complain at all. He was really encouraging that I tried something different.

Sunday

Bam Bam knows his ear. He lays his head on our chests or shoulders when we say "snuggle."

Boogie was playing with potato heads and said "Does the mama need a mustache?" Cracked us up! Then, he turned the mouth upside down and said "The mama is sad." When I asked why, he said, "Cuz it misses the dada." When I brought the dada over, he turned the mouth back around. That seems advanced to me! He also was enjoying snuggling with us on the floor in the playroom.

Welcome!

My name is Sierra and I am blessed :) I have been married to my husband for 7 years and cannot imagine a better husband and father. We currently have 3 beautiful boys and look forward to expanding our family when the timing is right. We have started preschool with our oldest this fall, teaching him about letters, numbers, and, most importantly of all, about God. We have been doing "tot school" with our middle son, encouraging him to explore learn along with his brother. We are trying to teach the baby how to sleep through the night consistently :) Thanks for stopping by to join us on our homeschooling journey!

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